The present invention relates to a processing or recording technique for use with recording media for recording data such as audio data and video data.
In an electrically erasable non-volatile memory—referred to as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM)—two transistors are used to store one bit of data. This two-transistor configuration means that EEPROM circuits require a relatively large integrated circuit surface area, and limits the integration density of the circuits.
To solve this memory density limitation problem, a flash memory has been developed in which one bit is stored using only one transistor, and all bits can be erased simultaneously. Thus, the flash memory is expected to replace recording media, such as magnetic discs and optical discs.
A removable flash memory card has been developed for use with various electronic devices. This memory card can be used in digital audio data recording/reproducing apparatuses instead of, or in addition to, conventional disc media such as CD (Compact Disc) and MD (Mini Disc).
Various pieces or types of data, in addition to audio or video data, may be recorded together on one recording medium such as a flash memory card by a recording apparatus. For example, a recording apparatus may record, as a single data group, music data reproduced from a CD or MD, or distributed by a communication or broadcast means. As another example, the recording apparatus may record voice data captured through a microphone as another data group. Such voice data recording ability may be useful for taking audio memos, recording a conference, and the like. Furthermore, the recording apparatus may record, as a single data group, still picture data and moving picture data captured by still cameras and video cameras. Moreover, the recording apparatus may record data to be used by a personal computer.
Thus, various types of data may be recorded on one memory card. Accordingly, when the memory card is full or contains different types of data, it may be difficult for a user to determine which data is to be erased. In such a situation, when the user wishes to erase certain data, the user needs to check the data to be erased. However, such an arrangement may be very inefficient.